- Bi-weekly payment
- Half of the standard monthly payment, paid every two weeks. Because a year has 52 weeks, that adds up to 26 half-payments, or 13 full monthly payments instead of 12. The extra payment goes to principal, which is why this calculator shows a shorter payoff and less total interest than the monthly schedule.
- Interest saved
- The difference between the total interest paid on the standard monthly schedule and the total interest paid on the bi-weekly schedule. Savings come from reducing principal sooner, so less interest accrues on later payments. The figure assumes your servicer credits each bi-weekly payment when received and charges no program fees.
- Time saved
- How much sooner the loan is paid off on the bi-weekly schedule compared with the original term. The new payoff time is the original term minus this amount. On a typical 30-year mortgage the extra annual payment shortens the loan by several years, though the exact figure depends on the interest rate.
- Standard monthly payment
- The fixed principal-and-interest payment that repays the loan amount over the full term at the stated rate. It is the baseline this calculator compares against, and the bi-weekly payment is half of it. It excludes property taxes, homeowners insurance and mortgage insurance, which are often collected in the same monthly bill.
- Amortization
- The schedule by which each payment is split between interest and principal until the balance reaches zero. Early payments are mostly interest; later ones are mostly principal. Extra principal, such as the thirteenth payment a bi-weekly plan produces each year, moves you further down the schedule and reduces interest on every payment after it.
- Loan amount
- The original principal borrowed on the mortgage. Together with the interest rate and term, it sets the standard monthly payment. In this calculator it is the starting balance for both schedules, so the comparison shows how the same loan behaves when paid monthly versus every two weeks.
- Interest rate
- The annual percentage the lender charges on the outstanding balance, before fees. It is not the same as APR, which folds in certain costs. Here it drives both the standard payment and the savings: the higher the rate, the more interest each early principal reduction avoids, so bi-weekly savings grow with the rate.
- Loan term
- The number of years over which the loan is scheduled to be repaid, such as 15 or 30. A longer term lowers the monthly payment but raises total interest. In this calculator, the term sets the baseline payoff date, and the bi-weekly schedule shows how far ahead of it the loan would be paid off.
